Another gratuitous chip reference
by Aurora-cs
Summary: Being a Time Lord means doing things you don't want to, because you knew you would. 9th Doctor and Rose.


They were on Earth, again.

They were at the beach, again.

They were sitting on the pier, again.

And they were eating chips, again.

Rose enjoyed the familiarity, and the salt and vinegar they were drenched in, and nibbled one absently.

She knew the Doctor enjoyed it as well, and usually he was digging into his bag, or her bag, with enthusiasm and cheeky humour, but right now he was just sitting there. He'd brought her here - earth a few centuries either side of her time, she forgot which, probably the reason they were nowhere she'd ever been to - and he wasn't sneaking chips from her bag, making jokes or even smiling.

Just a ghost of one at the moment.

She nudged him "You okay?"

He mumbled "Mmm?"

She rolled her eyes and gave him another nudge "Chips' getting cold here"

He turned, and just shrugged "Not really hungry"

She let this thought rest for a few moments, then stood, leaving the chips on the wall and hands on hips and stared at him.

"Something's up, and you're going to tell me what it is"

He didn't reply for a moment, then looked at his watch, nodded and stood.

"Okay, I wanted to show you something anyway"

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

They were sitting on a bench on the seafront.

Rose went to say something, but he cut her off.

"Don't say my name, or anything, okay?"

She was confused, but nodded.

He went to the railings, below which was the sand, and beyond that, the sea.

Rose watched the waves go out, and the Doctor watched his watch.

"Any minute now..." he murmured.

Then she heard a low noise, and recognised it as the TARDIS as it materialised.

She turned to the Doctor "How did it..."

He stopped her with an outstretched hand.

So she continued to watch as the TARDIS materialised on the beach below, unnoticed under the overhanging wall. It didn't look like their TARDIS, it blended in, but she knew it was their TARDIS anyway. Then it opened, and once again she wanted to ask why, but one look at the Doctor made her stop.

His face was low, drawn, filled with a melancholy sadness that made her grab his arm and squeeze it.

Two people came out of the TARDIS, the first an old man, white hair and a long jacket, but moving as easily as a man half his age. The second, a child, maybe a few years younger than Rose, whose eyes lit up on the scene they had entered into.

"Is this Earth, grandfather?" she questioned.

The Doctor felt his throat tighten.

"It is indeed" the old man nodded, a smile tracing his lips, and he pointed towards the sea "And this is the seaside, human children play here"

The girl smiled back "Will we?"

"I certainly hope so" he nodded "But I need to do some work on the TARDIS so they won't track us, and it's a little too dangerous to let you explore alone for the moment"

The girl seemed annoyed, but followed the old man back into the TARDIS.

Rose turned to ask the questions in her mind, but the Doctor had disappeared.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

She found him, around the corner, sitting with his back against the wall.

"That was you, wasn't it?"

He nodded "My first regeneration, my first life...the only one where I really had a chance to grow old, when I wasn't racing about the universe or through time, fighting Daleks" he felt his throat constrict "Before companions, before I found death was the only constant companion...before..." he swallowed "before it all disappeared"

Rose sat down beside him.

"That was the moment I started travelling, when I stole the TARDIS and came to Earth" a smile traced his lips "before it got stuck as a bloody police box"

"The first time on Earth?"

"Nope - when we were learning to 'pilot' TARDIS' at the academy, we got to pick a planet...I picked Earth, and I guess I fell in love with it" he turned, suddenly embarrassed at his admission.

He stood up suddenly, face a mixture of nerves and excitement.

"Let's go there"

"What, the first time you were on Earth?"

He nodded "no time like the present"

"You never manage to get us to the right time" she pointed out.

"I got us here, didn't I"

He had a point, Rose concluded as they raced back to the TARDIS, the Doctor seeming more alive than he had been for a while.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Welcome to Earth, 1967, when the Beatles were still making hits and a stupid young Gallifrian almost got himself killed...for the first time anyway" The Doctor made it sound like they were on a tour - generally true when he had facts about even the most obscure planet they'd been to - and at least he was smiling.

He said they were in London, but considering she wouldn't be born for another twenty years or so, Rose figured they were safe.

They were in a park, and for once, the TARDIS didn't look too out of place.

The Doctor had them hiding in a tree on the other side of a river, and his previous excitement seemed to be wearing off.

Then she heard the same groaning noise, and the TARDIS appearing, taking the appearance this time of a tree of all things, and the trunk opening to let three young men out, followed by an older authoritarian figure.

"See" the first boasted "I said I'd get us to Las Vegas in 2010! Time to hit the casinos!"

Rose chuckled "That has to be you" she whispered "wrong place, wrong time"

The Doctor nudged her "Quiet you"

The instructor frowned "No, Theta, this is London, and you're off the right time by forty three years"

Rose blinked "Theta?"

The Doctor was silent.

"You **do** have a name!"

He pouted "'s'too long for you to pronounce, that's more of a nickname"

"I'll have fun with this" she grinned, then turned back to the scene.

The other two were laughing at Theta's embarrassment, and he was trying - and failing - to stop them.

"Who are they?"

"Nobody really..." the Doctor frowned "Well, they're nobody now"

"Kappa, Alpha, stop laughing and conduct yourselves more like Gallifreyans and less like common humans"

Rose was about to protest, at least to the Doctor, but he seemed lost in a world of his own.

So she said nothing.

"So what do we do now?" Kappa asked the instructor "Now that Theta messed up?"

"I **didn't** mess up!" Theta shouted angrily, and leapt at Kappa, pushing him forward, but who pushed Theta back, unfortunately who was standing right next to the river.

And fell straight in.

The current was strong, and he was quickly swept downstream.

Immediately, the Doctor had leapt off the tree and was racing down the bank, Rose following after a moment's hesitation. The instructor, Kappa and Alpha were stunned for longer, and didn't know which way to go.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Theta struggled against the waves, there weren't too many oceans and he'd never learnt to swim. Right now, he was regretting it as much as he could possibly do, and flailed his arms around.

Then a pair of strong arms pulled him out, and helped him to the bank.

He lay on his back for several moments, drawing air back into his lungs and feeling his hearts slow down.

When he opened his eyes, there was a young human watching him, a few years older - at least, his appearance in human years - than him, with blond hair and a concerned expression on his face.

"You okay?"

He nodded, and coughed "I'm fine"

"That was a bit stupid, wasn't it?"

Theta nodded "I think I'll learn how to swim"

"You do that" she nodded, then turned her head and seemed to notice something, because she stood up from her kneeling position and smiled "Look, I've got to go, but be careful, okay?"

He nodded, and she disappeared into the woods, and he waited for the instructor to find him, and give him the talking to of several regenerations.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 

Rose found the Doctor watching Theta through the cover of thick trees, and touched his arm gently.

"What was that about?"

"You've got to make sure the timeline goes the way you remember...that means not interfering if you know you didn't, and interfering if you know you did..." he stopped, and rubbed his face, suddenly tired "or something like that"

Rose suddenly realised "You knew that was going to happen?"

He nodded "My first trip to Earth, and I remember being rescued by a young human girl - not something you forget, even when you live as long as I do"

Rose smiled "So that was why you ran away when we pulled him out?"

"Because I didn't remember it" he nodded "And I couldn't let myself meet...well, myself, again"

"You've met yourself before?"

"Mmm-hmm, not many times, but enough"

"Must be confusing" Rose commented.

The Doctor nodded, hesitated, then spoke "Then when I first met you, and I remembered meeting you, I realised that I must have taken you back with me, and it had to be this regeneration"

"That's why you asked me to come?"

"Not the whole reason" he reassured her, noticing the look on her face "I asked you because I could see it in your eyes, I asked you because I knew you'd agree, I didn't really think about this, but I asked you anyway"

"I thought..." she paused "I thought you said it was all destroyed, how can they...?"

"Time echoes" The Doctor said, turning his eyes back to the scene.

They saw Theta shout out, and met by the instructor, then they disappeared.

Back to their TARDIS, which worked, blended in and had slightly better accuracy.

Of course, that could just be the pilot.

Rose saw the change as swiftly as the smile left his face.

He shook, shivered and didn't object when she put her arms around him and hugged tight.

She'd tricked him into taking her back to before her father died - they hadn't stayed angry at each other for long, but he explained the danger of meeting yourself, and for him, it would have been more dangerous. But it must have made him think, and remember that this would happen, so even if he didn't think it was a good idea to come back, they had to anyway.

And he was confronted with his past.

He hadn't actually chosen the date of his first regeneration arriving on earth with Susan, that had been a twist of fate on the TARDIS' part, though he didn't admit it to Rose. But it made him realise that if he was going to fulfil that part of time when he was simply Theta, then now was the time.

But seeing both those times, those happier times when Gallifrey

still existed, when everyone there was alive, hit him hard.

He must have cried, but Rose said nothing, didn't complain, just held him, and when it was over and he knew his eyes must be red, she just smiled.

He felt better - not completely, that could never happen - but much better than before.

And he used their code for things being back to normal.

"Let's get some chips"

* * *

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A/N** : I've finally seen the new series! cheer I've seen the first episode and the second part of 'Aliens in London' - I'm at work when they're on TV, so we record them, and I don't see them straight after... anyway. As for the whole time war thing...I take it that they're all gone, but since the Doctor is still around, then maybe stuff that happened on Earth still...happened...kinda. Just make it some sort of 'time-echoes' thing. Or just complain in a review, whichever way you want. I was just thinking about a comment on my last one-shot about every fic having a gratuitous chip reference, and started to write this, but then I had another idea and it grew into...well, this. More Doctor angst! I make reference to Acid Lee's story 'Daddy's little girl ' - Hope that's okay if not, I can remove it 

**Challenge:** Find all the references to other Doctor Who information and win...well, nothing really, but its fun.  
**  
Disclaimer:** Dr Who is the property of the BBC, I don't own any of his regenerations though I can still hope for Bill Nighy or Will Self to play him in the future... sighs, but I've adopted him as a muse.


End file.
